The manufacture of articles such as necklaces, bracelets, belts, etc., by stringing beads onto a length of twine is probably as old as civilization. In its simplest form, such manufacture only requires the placement of a hole through each bead and the stringing of the beads onto twine of a selected length. A clasp at or the simple knotting of the terminal ends of the twine is used to connect the twine ends to one another to complete the article.
Generally, the twine utilized is of small diameter so that its presence in the article is hidden or is at least not prominent--the real prominence being reserved to show off the beads. The use of small diameter twine, while aesthetically desirable, is not without functional limitation since the smaller the twine diameter the less its breaking strength. Thus, consideration has to be given to the strength of the twine so that is will not be easily broken under expected stress when worn by the wearer. The compromise between twine diameter and twine strength, however, is easily resolved in the direction most important to the manufacturer. Even with the desired compromise being made, twine breakage has and still occurs. If the beads are merely strung onto the twine without further precaution, twine breakage results in all the beads falling from the string and being damaged or lost. If the beads are of material of little value, such as plastic or glass, damage to or loss of the beads is tolerable. However, should the beads be of a semi-precious stone, pearl or the like, damage and loss is not tolerable and precaution against such an occurrence has to be provided for.
It is well known that such precaution can be obtained by the simple expedient of knotting the twine before and after each bead. In this manner, twine breakage will only occasion the loss or damage of a single bead. The knot size is, of course, larger than the diameter of the hole in the bead. To simplify the assembly of a knotted string of beads, the bead hole diameter is caused to be rather constant. Still, however, the knotting technique is time consuming and expensive--this being especially true when the knotting is done by hand. Hand knotting requires concentration to details such as uniformity in knot size and knot placement. Achieving uniformity in knot size is made somewhat difficult due to oils in the knotter's hands being transferred to the twine as the knot is pushed tight by the knotter's thumb nail and forefinger. The transferred oils changes the twine's knot slipping characteristics thereby introducing variability in the tension on the twine needed to slip and form the final knot.
To provide speed and fidelity of knot formation in twine, it is an object of this invention to provide a knotting device which quickly slips and forms a knot with minimization of hand contact with the twine.